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Trump, Aides Diverge Further on Russia

The president’s split with advisers on Russian relations now extends to Syria

FBI Director Christopher Wray, left, and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein are among the U.S. law-enforcement and intelligence officials whose recent stark warnings on Russia election-meddling diverge from White House statements. The two men testified before the House Judiciary Committee on June 28.
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As the administration prepares for another summit meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, there is division within the U.S. ranks over Moscow’s intentions and whether the two sides will be able to cooperate on a range of issues including the conflict in Syria.

Mr. Trump has expressed hopes of working more closely with Russia in Syria, where Moscow has played a central role in cementing President Bashar al-Assad’s power. The administration raised the issue with Mr. Putin’s government during and after their meeting in Helsinki last week.

But the U.S. general overseeing the fight against Islamic State expressed doubt about deepening cooperation with the Russian military. “I’ve watched some of the things that Russia has done, it does give me some pause,” Gen. Joseph Votel said in an interview en route to Afghanistan.

Gen. Votel heads the U.S. Central Command, which also oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East, including Syria, where Russia has been carrying out air strikes to help Mr. Assad’s forces reclaim territory from Syrian rebels.

A parade of top officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Justice Department and intelligence agencies, as well as U.S. lawmakers, have issued warnings in recent days about Russian interference in U.S. elections. Mr. Trump and others in the White House say they have raised concerns about interference, and are focusing on other issues.

The skepticism has frustrated Russian officials who had hoped for an opening between Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin to see eye to eye on thorny regional issues, terrorism and arms control.

Seeking to capitalize on the Helsinki meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday about potential cooperation in Syria and demanded the release of Russian citizen Maria Butina, who was arrested last week and charged with failing to register as a foreign agent. Mr. Lavrov called the accusations against her “fabricated.”

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A statement from the U.S. State Department on Sunday said the men discussed Syria, counterterrorism and business-to-business ties but made no mention of Ms. Butina.

Before last week’s Helsinki summit, Syria was seen as a potential area of cooperation between the two countries, especially since the U.S. is no longer providing covert support to Syrian rebels opposed to Mr. Assad. Mr. Trump has said he would like to eventually remove the approximately 2,000 U.S. troops in the country.

The White House’s paramount concern in Syria has been finding a way to evict Iranian forces. National Security Adviser John Bolton voiced hopes earlier this month that Mr. Trump and Mr. Putin might work together to scale back Iran’s role.

But no agreement to reduce Iran’s role was announced in Helsinki. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats expressed skepticism at the policy symposium that Russia would help.

“We have assessed that it’s unlikely Russia has the will or the capability to fully implement and counter Iranian decision and influence,” Mr. Coats said at the Aspen Security Forum. “It’s a big country. There are a lot of hot spots there. Russia would have to make significantly greater commitments from a military standpoint, from an economic standpoint. We don’t assess that they are keen to do that.”

Mr. Trump has said little about the Helsinki summit, including Syria. Russian officials said they are preparing to set up a working group with the U.S. to focus on getting Syrian refugees back home.

In his interview, however, Gen. Votel outlined the pitfalls of seeking to a closer military relationship with Moscow in Syria.

At present, the U.S. military maintains regular consultations with its Russian counterparts to avoid inadvertent confrontation in Syria—what the Pentagon calls “deconfliction.”

“I don’t see anything that we ought to be doing militarily right now beyond what we are currently doing,” he said.

“They have supported a regime that has pretty brutally attacked their people,” Gen. Votel explained. “They’ve actively worked to make sure that the Syrian regime wasn’t held to full accountability for their use of chemicals.”

“These are not things that give me great confidence that just by stepping over into the next level of coordination that things are going to be fine. I don’t,” Gen Votel continued. “It’s Russia. Let’s not forget that it’s Russia.”

Before the Helsinki summit, Russia pushed the U.S. to close an American base in southern Syria, where Iran is looking to open a corridor to shuttle weapons to its allies in Lebanon. It remained unclear if Mr. Trump had discussed closing the base in exchange for Mr. Putin’s help in containing Iran’s influence in Syria.

But Gen. Votel said he is opposed to closing the base, known as Al Tanf, which has been used to train Syrian militants battling Islamic State.

Another wild card that could complicate U.S.-Russia relations as a summit approaches is the possibility of more sanctions, which some in Congress have brandished if there is more Russian election interference.

While Russia had hoped that Mr. Trump’s election would lead to an easing of sanctions, a law passed last year by Congress and signed by Mr. Trump, along with existing executive orders, mandate punitive measures in response to Kremlin election interference, cyber attacks and military interventions in Ukraine and Syria.

The new law, Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, or Caatsa, was invoked after special counsel Robert Mueller in February obtained indictments against several Russian companies and citizens for their alleged involvement in election interference. In that instance, the Treasury Department sanctioned the defendants.

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The July 13 indictment of 12 officers from cyber units in Russia’s military-intelligence agency provided Treasury officials with information on additional Kremlin-linked actors with which to take similar action.

“Congress has provided important tools to hold Russia accountable for its meddling,” said Rep. Ed Royce, the California Republican who heads the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “The administration needs to use them to the fullest extent.”

—Thomas Grove in Moscow and Ian Talley in Washington contributed to this article.